Andrew Willett
@awillett.bsky.social
Sometime spec-fic writer. Not supposed to have opinions in public for job reasons, will generally not post about the News. He/him.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
OH HELLLL YES!
My latest at @comicsjournal.bsky.social: I talked to @oglaf.bsky.social! Not the character, but rather, the people who create it.
They don't do many interviews, so this was a real treat. They're funny people! Turns out they're not super private, just...really bad at PR?
www.tcj.com/talking-ogla...
They don't do many interviews, so this was a real treat. They're funny people! Turns out they're not super private, just...really bad at PR?
www.tcj.com/talking-ogla...
Talking Oglaf with Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne: 'We'd stay up all night drawing stuff to make each other laugh' - The Comics Journal
Other than some time off every year for Christmas, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne have delivered a new Oglaf comic, skewering fantasy tropes with absolutely not safe for work humor, every week since 2008...
www.tcj.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:25 PM
OH HELLLL YES!
Reposted by Andrew Willett
On the other site, an 18-year-old Zohran canvasser described the legendary Wallace Shawn as "the actor who plays Dr. Sturgis on Young Sheldon" which is honestly adorable
November 2, 2025 at 8:02 PM
On the other site, an 18-year-old Zohran canvasser described the legendary Wallace Shawn as "the actor who plays Dr. Sturgis on Young Sheldon" which is honestly adorable
Reposted by Andrew Willett
Amy does a solid job here. I'll probably put something about this in Monday's newsletter. Writing it will be easy, but then going back and editing out all the swearing will be hard.
I couldn't leave this one alone. Like it seems silly and harmless, but this is such a slippery slope in to damaging conspiracy theories like anti-vax and climate change denial, so I'm going to keep explaining it in the hopes people start actually thinking about things.
Like I wasn't going to respond... #shorts #kardashians
One day I don't have to keep repeating these points. Also I threw this together super quick last night -- hoping these are clear enough short answers!
If you enjoy these shorts, consider supporting…
youtube.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Amy does a solid job here. I'll probably put something about this in Monday's newsletter. Writing it will be easy, but then going back and editing out all the swearing will be hard.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
this is the Pope
his entire thing is going around waving to crowds and looking happy
he is also such a White Sox fan that this is the maddest - and most human - I have ever a pope look
his entire thing is going around waving to crowds and looking happy
he is also such a White Sox fan that this is the maddest - and most human - I have ever a pope look
Mar Awa III, patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, also born in Chicago, gave Pope Leo a Cubs jersey.
October 29, 2025 at 12:59 AM
this is the Pope
his entire thing is going around waving to crowds and looking happy
he is also such a White Sox fan that this is the maddest - and most human - I have ever a pope look
his entire thing is going around waving to crowds and looking happy
he is also such a White Sox fan that this is the maddest - and most human - I have ever a pope look
Reposted by Andrew Willett
The sculptural reconstructions of The Kennis Twins.
The first showin ehre is my favorite, FAVORITE reconstruction of Lucy, ever. The second is Tollund Man, the famous bog body. The third is Shanidar Z, a semi-recent Neanderthal find. Fourth is Homo floresiensis (a "hobbit.")
The first showin ehre is my favorite, FAVORITE reconstruction of Lucy, ever. The second is Tollund Man, the famous bog body. The third is Shanidar Z, a semi-recent Neanderthal find. Fourth is Homo floresiensis (a "hobbit.")
October 16, 2025 at 2:51 AM
The sculptural reconstructions of The Kennis Twins.
The first showin ehre is my favorite, FAVORITE reconstruction of Lucy, ever. The second is Tollund Man, the famous bog body. The third is Shanidar Z, a semi-recent Neanderthal find. Fourth is Homo floresiensis (a "hobbit.")
The first showin ehre is my favorite, FAVORITE reconstruction of Lucy, ever. The second is Tollund Man, the famous bog body. The third is Shanidar Z, a semi-recent Neanderthal find. Fourth is Homo floresiensis (a "hobbit.")
Reposted by Andrew Willett
The way I am refreshing this repeatedly.
Too many amazing stories from Gallup, and almost none I will repeat here. However I will talk about what I myself experienced. There was Something in the basement at the Old Rehoboth Church
October 14, 2025 at 7:05 PM
The way I am refreshing this repeatedly.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
"...they watched in astonishment a brown wormlike creature greedily munching through green clumps of algae as if more than 130 years hadn’t passed since its last meal. Equally oblivious, a host of life – water fleas, worms, plankton – danced and spun around it."
#invertebrates #hope
#invertebrates #hope
Creatures buried in soil for over a century burst back to life in Toronto waterfront
A project to restore coastal wetland leads to astonishing discoveries of a host of life: seeds and plant scraps, as well as water fleas, worms, larvae and plankton
www.theguardian.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"...they watched in astonishment a brown wormlike creature greedily munching through green clumps of algae as if more than 130 years hadn’t passed since its last meal. Equally oblivious, a host of life – water fleas, worms, plankton – danced and spun around it."
#invertebrates #hope
#invertebrates #hope
Reposted by Andrew Willett
@feedly.com Clicking on Feeds > All, if you're already looking at Feeds > All, no longer refreshes the page. You have to click something else and then return to it to get an up-to-date list.
September 25, 2025 at 9:49 PM
@feedly.com Clicking on Feeds > All, if you're already looking at Feeds > All, no longer refreshes the page. You have to click something else and then return to it to get an up-to-date list.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Reposted by Andrew Willett
I was closing out my grandmother’s house.
It had been in the family for 6 generations, but my mother left Indiana when I was 6, and my sibs were even younger, so we were never going to live there. And the last 40 or so years meant a lot of deferred maintenance as my great-grandfather aged.
It had been in the family for 6 generations, but my mother left Indiana when I was 6, and my sibs were even younger, so we were never going to live there. And the last 40 or so years meant a lot of deferred maintenance as my great-grandfather aged.
you don’t have to wait til Halloween to tell you ghost stories I WANT TO HEAR THEM NOW
September 24, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I was closing out my grandmother’s house.
It had been in the family for 6 generations, but my mother left Indiana when I was 6, and my sibs were even younger, so we were never going to live there. And the last 40 or so years meant a lot of deferred maintenance as my great-grandfather aged.
It had been in the family for 6 generations, but my mother left Indiana when I was 6, and my sibs were even younger, so we were never going to live there. And the last 40 or so years meant a lot of deferred maintenance as my great-grandfather aged.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
I look at old Sunday page comics and the amount of room they were given to work on and tell stories and then I look at the 3 panel family shlock on a single page of the daily paper now and i cant help but be crestfallen at how little art and storytelling are valued in our society.
Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay from September 23, 1906. One of his most impressive & famous pages.
September 23, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I look at old Sunday page comics and the amount of room they were given to work on and tell stories and then I look at the 3 panel family shlock on a single page of the daily paper now and i cant help but be crestfallen at how little art and storytelling are valued in our society.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
“The little guy is simply the human instinct to make something with little guy energy. If you carve a carrot into a bunny, that is a little guy. If you fold paper cranes from chopstick wrappers, that is a little guy. If you put googly eyes on a lemon, that is a little guy.”
Just make something. 🥹
Just make something. 🥹
Today's Love Letter is from the unstoppable @shing.bsky.social. Shing's ode to Making Little Guys is one of the single most nourishing pieces of nonfiction I have ever read. Maybe you need this one as much as I do.
Little Guys
A Love Letters Feature by Shing Yin Khor - September 2025
stone-soup.ghost.io
September 11, 2025 at 9:25 AM
“The little guy is simply the human instinct to make something with little guy energy. If you carve a carrot into a bunny, that is a little guy. If you fold paper cranes from chopstick wrappers, that is a little guy. If you put googly eyes on a lemon, that is a little guy.”
Just make something. 🥹
Just make something. 🥹
Today, in cool threads!
Some of the most remarkable lost artefacts from the ancient world were the titanic wrecks of the Nemi ships, built for a Roman emperor.
In their first-century heyday they held gardens, palaces and baths in a floating wonderland. But barely a decade after their recovery, they were lost forever.
In their first-century heyday they held gardens, palaces and baths in a floating wonderland. But barely a decade after their recovery, they were lost forever.
September 1, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Today, in cool threads!
Reposted by Andrew Willett
Drowning is “the No. 2 cause of accidental death in children, ages 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents)—of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult.”
Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on.
slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com/technology/2...
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.
slate.com
August 11, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Drowning is “the No. 2 cause of accidental death in children, ages 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents)—of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult.”
Reposted by Andrew Willett
Once I tried to get @tkingfisher.com to remove an em dash. She sent me a photo of STET THIS across her knuckles.
That's how you can tell human authors from AI.
AI will put in some em dashes, then apologise and take them out when told off.
Human authors will climb the filing cabinet, hissing, and defend their right to em dashes with a loaded stapler.
AI will put in some em dashes, then apologise and take them out when told off.
Human authors will climb the filing cabinet, hissing, and defend their right to em dashes with a loaded stapler.
Em dashes, like anything, should be used in moderation. Check first with your editor if em dashes are right for you. 😉
#WriteSky #WritingTips
#WriteSky #WritingTips
August 2, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Once I tried to get @tkingfisher.com to remove an em dash. She sent me a photo of STET THIS across her knuckles.
The [source of joy]-to-[firehose of despair and anger] ratio here is starting to do things to my mental health. Pondering a lil' break is bringing on an internal chorus of "so you're okay being complicit in the state of things, then"; I suspect this is a symptom of the above.
July 30, 2025 at 5:26 PM
The [source of joy]-to-[firehose of despair and anger] ratio here is starting to do things to my mental health. Pondering a lil' break is bringing on an internal chorus of "so you're okay being complicit in the state of things, then"; I suspect this is a symptom of the above.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
An eloquent image:
Setting aside the content under the tarp for a moment, teens were asked to make art expressing what it is like to be a teen, and the end result was a mural wrapped in a tarp by adults.
I bet a lot of teens would find this expressive of their experience.
Setting aside the content under the tarp for a moment, teens were asked to make art expressing what it is like to be a teen, and the end result was a mural wrapped in a tarp by adults.
I bet a lot of teens would find this expressive of their experience.
July 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM
An eloquent image:
Setting aside the content under the tarp for a moment, teens were asked to make art expressing what it is like to be a teen, and the end result was a mural wrapped in a tarp by adults.
I bet a lot of teens would find this expressive of their experience.
Setting aside the content under the tarp for a moment, teens were asked to make art expressing what it is like to be a teen, and the end result was a mural wrapped in a tarp by adults.
I bet a lot of teens would find this expressive of their experience.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
@edidin.bsky.social justice called this cyberpunk but may I offer: cybirdpunk
Holy shit. This guy saved a PNG to a bird.
(he drew a bird into a spectrogram, played that sound to a starling, and the starling reproduced it back to him with enough accuracy he got his bird drawing back in their call's spectrogram) www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCQC...
(he drew a bird into a spectrogram, played that sound to a starling, and the starling reproduced it back to him with enough accuracy he got his bird drawing back in their call's spectrogram) www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCQC...
I Saved a PNG Image To A Bird
YouTube video by Benn Jordan
www.youtube.com
July 29, 2025 at 12:32 AM
@edidin.bsky.social justice called this cyberpunk but may I offer: cybirdpunk
Reposted by Andrew Willett
Amy Sherald says the Smithsonian suggested removing a painting of a transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty from her upcoming show at the National Portrait Gallery “to avoid provoking President Trump.” Sherald: “I cannot in good conscience comply with a culture of censorship”
Amy Sherald Cancels Her Smithsonian Show, Citing Censorship
www.nytimes.com
July 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Amy Sherald says the Smithsonian suggested removing a painting of a transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty from her upcoming show at the National Portrait Gallery “to avoid provoking President Trump.” Sherald: “I cannot in good conscience comply with a culture of censorship”
Reposted by Andrew Willett
NYC is facing extreme heat and a flood watch today.
But most NYers are not signed up to receive alerts from Notify NYC.
Important that you sign up asap. Just text “NOTIFYNYC” to 692-692. It will ask for your zip code to give you local alerts.
But most NYers are not signed up to receive alerts from Notify NYC.
Important that you sign up asap. Just text “NOTIFYNYC” to 692-692. It will ask for your zip code to give you local alerts.
July 8, 2025 at 4:26 PM
NYC is facing extreme heat and a flood watch today.
But most NYers are not signed up to receive alerts from Notify NYC.
Important that you sign up asap. Just text “NOTIFYNYC” to 692-692. It will ask for your zip code to give you local alerts.
But most NYers are not signed up to receive alerts from Notify NYC.
Important that you sign up asap. Just text “NOTIFYNYC” to 692-692. It will ask for your zip code to give you local alerts.
At this point I am not just thinking we're living in a simulation; I'm envisioning the sim running at an end-of-term party full of grad students holding red plastic cups. If you look at the screen, a metric labeled 'SUCK' is dialed alllll the way up. Periodically they check in. Horrified laughter.
June 19, 2025 at 6:36 PM
At this point I am not just thinking we're living in a simulation; I'm envisioning the sim running at an end-of-term party full of grad students holding red plastic cups. If you look at the screen, a metric labeled 'SUCK' is dialed alllll the way up. Periodically they check in. Horrified laughter.
Dad introduced me to Walt Kelly’s POGO comics and the works of Edward Gorey, which is a significant chunk of my soul right there.
Okay you guys, what’s the best book, movie, or TV show your dad introduced you to
June 16, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Dad introduced me to Walt Kelly’s POGO comics and the works of Edward Gorey, which is a significant chunk of my soul right there.
Reposted by Andrew Willett
Brighten your day. Historian rediscovers a pre-Incan method of water storage, gets money to restore the existing structures, and the town he grew up in now has access to water 10 hours a day, up from 1/2 hour per day. The details are v. cool.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
A map, a myth and a pre-Incan lagoon: the man who brought water back to a drought-ridden town
When historian Galo Ramón uncovered a long-forgotten pre-Incan water system in Ecuador, he set about restoring it, and helped transform the landscape and livelihoods
www.theguardian.com
June 14, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Brighten your day. Historian rediscovers a pre-Incan method of water storage, gets money to restore the existing structures, and the town he grew up in now has access to water 10 hours a day, up from 1/2 hour per day. The details are v. cool.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...